the feds have landed

I haven’t been taking second life too seriously so far. But maybe its time to reconsider. Nick Carr tells us that the FBI is concerened about cyber-terrorists in SL

A recent paper by the government’s Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity group foresees virtual worlds becoming the perfect setting for espionage planning, money laundering, and other clandestine activities. Writes the paper’s author: “What started out as a benign environment where people would congregate to share information or explore fantasy worlds is now offering the opportunity for religious/political extremists to recruit, rehearse, transfer money, and ultimately engage in information warfare or worse with impunity.”

Rest assured, they’re already training a new species of cyber-Scullys. Or Smiths.

As Nick says, “welcome to the internet, dude”.

So here’s the failsafe test for technology’s maturity:

When you hear the shout “child porn”, you can mark the technology as worth looking into.

When you hear the shout “terrorism”, you know it has some value as a medium of expression.